The Gods Lie
by dislocation
Summary: Sarah decides that she wants to spend a gap year in the States and she's lucky enough to have an uncle who has room on his couch. Only this won't be as simple as she originally thought for not only her cousin's stories of museum's exhibits coming to life are true, one of them mistakes her for someone from his past and instead of answers, all that awaits Sarah is more questions.
1. Welcome to New York

Author's note: I give up. You all win. I have fallen under the spell that is Rami Malek and his beautiful god-like existence (I mean seriously, a seemingly wonderful and nice guy and with amazing looks, _do you think this is a game_?). And I'm dying a little bit inside because I can't afford to go see NATM 3, but from what I know he has a lot more screen time (which he needs because he barely appears in the first two films despite being one of the most important characters, what's up with that?). So after reading the number of fanfics on this site (of which there aren't nearly enough!) I decided to try my hand at one. Hopefully it's something different. For a pilot chapter it's a bit introductory and jumpy, but I hope you readers enjoy it!

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><p><strong>Chapter One: Welcome to New York<strong>

"_You can't do this to me," the young man pleaded, his shadowed face contorted in pain, yearning, anger, betrayal and about every other emotion that made her stomach clench with a feeling she couldn't identify. _

_Sarah wanted to disappear into the earth, his deathly grip burning her skin, his nails digging into her skin. Yet she couldn't move, she was frozen, only able to stare up at the face she could not clearly make out. _

"_You can't. You can't. Please, you can't leave me. Not now, not until we've spent our share of the eternity like the gods have promised."_

Sarah awoke with a start, sitting up and drenched in cold sweat. Her breaths left her in short gasps and she looked around in a panic, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dark. When she recognised the familiar shapes of her bedroom's furniture and that the pressure on her upper arms were not desperate hands clinging to her for dear life but a red blanket, she let out a heavy breath, closing her eyes and dropping back down with a groan.

She winced when the back of her head met the carpeted, but not any softer, floor. She could somewhat make out the shape of her bed next to her, adding this awakening to the endless list of times she had woken up on the ground, having fallen out of her bed sometime during her sleep.

She closed her eyes and after freeing her hands ran them over her face, holding her breath. Maybe if she could go without breathing long enough, she would pass out and fall back asleep?

A knock sounded on her door, followed by an uncertain, "Are you alright, honey? I thought I heard a noise, I'm coming in. Are you awake?"

Sarah's eyes shot open and she sat up to protest but the door was barely opened a few inches before a hand reached out and turned on the light.

She let out a groan and let her head fall against the side of her mattress, cursing under her breath.

"Why?" she moaned, hitting her head against the mattress a few times, wishing for nothing more but to crawl back under the blanket and to go back to sleep. Sleep _without _repeat nightmares.

Sarah's mother pushed the door fully open and chuckled, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall. She looked awfully cheery for someone awake at three o'clock in the morning, in her pink nightgown and fluffy slippers, a mug of tea in her hand.

"Come on, munchkin," she said with a smile, stepping into the room and placing her mug on the dresser. She proceeded to force her daughter away from the bed, pulling the protesting girl up on her feet. "Get up, sunshine, your plane leaves in 3 hours."

* * *

><p>"Sarah!"<p>

The nineteen year old turned towards the familiar voice, putting her suitcase down and opening her arms just in time for Larry Daley, her father's younger brother, to envelop her in a tight hug and lift her from the ground.

Sarah laughed, returning the embrace wholeheartedly. When Larry put her down they beamed at each other and after a few blinks Larry took a step back, scanning the girl from head to toe. "Did you shrink?"

The girl rolled her eyes. "I've actually grown an inch! Last time you saw me I was wearing high heels, uncle Larry."

"Right, right," the older man nodded, "with that horrible silver dress."

"It wasn't horrible!" Sarah exclaimed, outraged, but her laugh that followed betrayed the fact that she agreed. "It was for a school project and it was all my own work, thank you very much."

Larry laughed, shaking his head. He ruffled Sarah's hair before pulling her into another, this time brief and one-handed, hug. "It's good to see you, kid."

Sarah giggled, patting his back. "It's good to see you too, Larry."

"So, how was the glorious _eight hour _flight?" Larry asked as he took the heavy suitcase from his niece's hands and they began to move with the crowd leaving the airport.

Sarah shrugged. "Honestly, the arrival check-points are the worse, the flight itself didn't seem too long. I kept myself distracted." She waved her charcoal and pen ink stained fingers in Larry's face.

"Well it's good you've gotten over your fear of heights," Larry teased with a lopsided smirk.

The girl at his side pouted, her expression masked when the pair stepped outside and the wind blew her hair in her face. "Fear of heights is evolutionarily rational, Mr. Daley."

"I know, I know," he waved her off, leading the way towards the space where he had parked his car. "I went to high school too."

Sarah chuckled under her breath, the two falling into a comfortable silence. That's what she liked about her uncle. While her parents seemed to need to fill every passing moment with words, Larry seemed to understand that she liked to be left to her own thoughts, ever since she was a little girl. And while at first he felt awkward almost talking to himself when the girl didn't seem to pay attention, he had gotten used to it. Nowadays, he even appreciated it. She was the only one who didn't use to bug him about his unstable job or living arrangements, only ever enquiring on whether he was content with his life.

When they were back on the road, Sarah's suitcase in the trunk of the car and the girl in question sitting in the front passenger seat with the safety belt across her chest, Larry glanced at her through the corners of his eyes and couldn't help but laugh.

Sarah was looking up at each passing building and tree in wonder, her lips parted. Her left wrist was moving in circles before she caught herself, realising she doesn't actually have a sketchbook on her lap.

Larry couldn't blame her fascination. She was only a few years old when her family moved to England and she has only been in New York since then once for Christmas vacation when she was fifteen. And she had a cold throughout the two weeks and couldn't go out much. So New York was still pretty much a very new environment for her.

It was ten minutes later that Larry broke the silence, because while Sarah was used to it, he wasn't and conversation was one of the ways he felt he could distract them both from the rush hour they would enter in less than an hour.

"So," he began, keeping his eyes on the road before them. "Have you been thinking of what you'll spend this year doing?"

Sarah shrugged. "I have a few art projects in mind, but nothing set in stone. I need to find a job, try and save up as much as I can."

"Well I'm sure that won't be too hard," Larry threw her a smile. "It might be summer now but when school starts there'll be plenty of places who'll need someone to lend a hand. And I can always help you."

"Thanks," Sarah nodded thankfully, without turning to him. "Speaking of school. How's Nicky?"

"He's doing well."

Sarah noddled thoughtfully, a small but fond smile pulling at her lips. "I've missed him."

"He missed you."

Silence fell, but this time it was Sarah who broke it, suddenly laughing and turning to Larry with a wide grin. "He should be a writer."

"Who, Nicky?" Larry quirked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he has quite the imagination," Sarah said, turning back to the window.

Larry's smile wavered and he glanced at her warily, shifting in his seat and adjusting his grip on the steering wheel. "What do you mean?"

"The stories he e-mails me. They're rather interesting really, would actually make very good children's books." Sarah smiled and turned to Larry, looking almost guilty. "Inspiring, even. I've done a few sketches. I have some with me, I wanted to give them to Nicky."

Larry hummed, the inside of his cheek between his teeth. He glanced at Sarah but she was looking out of the window again and he allowed himself to frown, pulling his eyebrows together.

Nick had promised to keep the fact that the museum's exhibits come to life a secret. But after begging his father to tell his cousins about it, Larry agreed, figuring that Sarah wouldn't believe the boy anyway. Hell, if he wasn't experiencing his son's 'stories', as Sarah just called them, first hand he wouldn't believe Nick himself.

Still, despite knowing Sarah most likely didn't mean much by her statement, he didn't expect her to bring it up...

The conversation ended there, both Sarah and Larry lost in their own thoughts, the girl's eyes committing each passing building to memory.

They barely managed to pull over outside Larry's flat building when Sarah was startled by a very familiar face anything but face planting the passenger window. She laughed at Nicky and undid her seat-belt while the boy merely rubbed his nose, laughing at himself and taking a step back to allow Sarah to exit the car. She put one leg out on the street before she was enveloped in a hug, two arms wrapping around her waist in a tight grip.

"Hey, little man!" she greeted her cousin with a laugh, ruffling his hair. When he pulled away she leaned down until their eyes were level, placing her hands on her knees. "How's it going?"

"It's going great!" Nick said. "It's so cool that you're going to stay with us for a while. I have so much to tell you."

"Really?" Sarah put on a look of excitement on her face. She threw Larry an amused look over her shoulder and he smiled back, pulling her suitcase out of the trunk of the car. She turned back to Nicky and returned his grin. "That's awesome. You're still into hockey?"

"Sure," the boy nodded, before smirking mischievously. "I'm better than you at it."

Sarah gaped and when Nicky blinked she laughed, lightly punching his shoulder. "Alright, Mr. Big Shot," she drawled. "I am not going to argue you on that."

"So," Larry said over the two as he finally approached them and stood by their side, Sarah's suitcase in his hands. "Are you two ready for the most awesome summer of your lives?"

"Yeah!" Nicky cheered and Sarah agreed, straightening up, letting out a laugh when Nicky grabbed her hand and began to pull her towards the entrance to the building, already chattering about the video game he was only a few hours short of completing.

Larry hoovered behind for a few moments, watching their retreating backs. In truth, he was _very _glad that Sarah was staying. Partly for selfish reasons of course, for he knew Erica wouldn't protest against his requests for Nicky to spend more time with him if Sarah was in town. But Nicky always did get along with Sarah, the two fitting like two peas in a pod, more like a brother and a sister rather than cousins. They even looked almost creepily alike.

Shaking his head, he pulled the suitcase up the stairs to the apartment building and reached into his pocket, only for his smile to fall and a frustrated sigh to leave past his lips.

Nicky had his keys.

* * *

><p>The first thing Sarah did when she went inside – after they went back downstairs to let Larry in of course – was excuse herself to the bathroom. She had just spent the entire day sitting down and she was terribly jet-lagged and while she wasn't particularly tired, which was strange considering how early she had gotten up, a splash of cold water seemed just the thing to stop her eyes from closing.<p>

Nick and Larry sat down at the kitchen table, pulling a chair out for the third member of the company, the boy swinging his legs back and forth and impatiently tapping his fingers on the surface.

Larry's son stared pointedly at his father for five minutes but when the man remained oblivious, looking over an old take-away menu on the table, Nicky kicked him.

"Ow!" Larry yelped, startled, rubbing his knee and mockingly glaring at Nicky. "What was that for?"

Nick looked at his dad pleadingly. "Come on, dad. Sarah would love it."

The older man sighed, not wanting to have that particular conversation again. "Nicky, we discussed this," Larry said quietly, checking that his niece was still in the bathroom. The sound of running water into the sink confirmed that. "We can't let other people know."

"Know what?" Sarah asked. Larry whipped around to face her and she looked at them both questioningly, her hands reaching for her suitcase. At his wide-eyed stare, she smiled apologetically. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt, I just forgot my towel."

She quickly pulled her towel out of her bag and moved to leave, drying her hands. When she turned her back to them and seemed to head back to the bathroom, Nicky put his hands together, mouthing 'please' over and over again.

Larry maintained his defiance for a few seconds before giving in, shaking his head. "Sarah?" he called, catching the girl just as she was about to disappear around the corner.

She turned around, hesitating in the doorway and smiled politely, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"How..." Larry began tentatively, glancing at his son as he licked his lips. Nicky nodded in encouragement. Larry, against his better decision, made up his mind and turned back to his niece with a smile. "How would you like to accompany me and Nick here to work tonight?"

Sarah was caught off-guard to say the least but when Nick turned his expectant eyes to her she smirked and leaned against the wall, folding her arms over her chest. "Tonight? I don't know boys... I mean, I've heard most terrible stories... I'm not sure I can handle dinosaurs coming to life at my age..."

Even though she faked her interest, Larry didn't miss the fact that even when she would play along with Nick's stories, Sarah never sounded patronising, instead she always encouraged him in whatever it was he chose to do.

"Oh come on," Nick pleaded, jumping from his chair and running over to his cousin, stretching on his tip-toes so he could appear as tall as he could. "It will be great. I know everyone there, I can give you a tour!"

Sarah could never say 'no' to Nicky, not when he used his best puppy-eyes impression on her. "Well," she pretended to sigh in defeat, "I can't possibly say 'no' to a free tour and my very own tour guide, now can I?" Nick smiled even wider than was possible. Sarah looked at Larry, putting her towel over her shoulder. "Are you sure it's alright?"

"Yeah," the man waved his hand nonchalantly. "It'll be fine. Nick's over all the time."

"Okay," Sarah nodded slowly, pushing off from against the wall. "Well, I'll go have a shower and attempt to fit in short nap, if it's alright with you two."

"Sure," Larry called after her for she had already began to move back towards the bathroom. "We'll wake you at dinner time." He shook his head, his smile falling the moment Sarah left the room. Oh boy, the girl was in for a night of her life, whether worst or best he didn't know. "This is... this is a very bad idea. This is _not _gonna go well."

Nick ran back to the table, grinning from ear to ear as he took his seat. "Told you she'd want to come."

Larry nodded then pointed his index finger at Nicky, leaning over the table to whisper, "If she has a heart attack, I'm blaming you."

All Nick did was shrug, the smile never leaving his face. "Okay."


	2. The Wrong Foot

Author's note: Here's the second chapter and I hope I don't scare people away.  
>Oh and I couldn't find out exactly when Larry began to work at the museum and from the general city and landscapes and the fact that it was snowing, I'd guess early December or late November, but it might also be JanuaryFebruary because there's a lack of Christmas decorations, so if I find out, I'll correct it!

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: The Wrong Foot<strong>

"_Promise me. Promise me you'll be by my side always. For if I can't reach out and grasp your hand in mine, this life has no meaning to me."_

"_I promise."_

Sarah rubbed her temples, the words echoing in her head. Dear, God... how _cheesy._

She had wished for the short nap on the couch to be dreamless but as always, her prayers went unanswered. Only it wasn't much of a nightmare and more of one of the strangest dreams she ever had. She was lying down in the middle of desert, nothing but sand as far as an eye could see around her. Someone was next to her, but she could only feel their presence, unable to actually see them. The sun was burning her skin to the point it began to peel and the circling cultures above cried out in delight but her dream-self didn't seem to care, smiling when a hand grasped her own and made her promise something to a voice that had no physical presence.

She woke up with a cry of pain, realising the back of her hand was pressed against the piping hot radiator.

Never the less, she had to admit that it was a nice change from all those dreams where she would be running inside a golden maze, not knowing who exactly was chasing her, but convinced that if she stopped, something bad would happen.

Or the dream she had the night before about bleeding out on the floor with a nasty wound in her stomach, some desperate young man – at least she thought he sounded young, in all the truth she couldn't see him clearly – begging her not to die, almost _accusing _her as if it was her fault that she had gotten herself hurt in the first place.

Sarah shook her head and taking in a deep breath, rose from the couch, deciding to put away unpleasant dreams into the attic of her mind for now. She was quite excited for the evening outing even if she wasn't sure as to what could entertain a ten year old boy for an entire night. Either way, she couldn't recall the last time she's been to a museum and her inner child was jumping up and down from excitement.

As she stretched, Larry walked into the room hanging up on the phone. He noticed her and smiled in surprise. "Oh hey, I was about to wake you, we ordered pizza. Did you sleep alright?"

"I slept fine. Believe it or not, your couch is more comfortable than my bed at home."

"Good," Larry nodded, moving out of the way as Sarah, her face still puffy from sleep, walked past him to sit down at the table. He surveyed her for a moment before checking that Nick was out of the room – the boy was working on something in his bedroom – and approached Sarah slowly, putting the phone down. "Hey, uh, are you sure you slept alright?"

"Yeah, of course," Sarah shrugged, acting as if the question confused her. "Why?"

"No reason," Larry shrugged, deciding that if the girl didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't pressure her. He only asked because he thought he heard her mutter in her sleep, sounding like she was in distress. He might not have kept in touch with Sarah's parents as often as he should but he knew that falling out of bed in the middle of the night was something Nicky stopped doing when he was five. And while her evidently vivid dreams were put down to an over-active imagination even by the girl herself, he wanted to think outside the box. It might have been nothing, he told himself, but what kind of uncle would he be if he didn't worry at least in the slightest?

Sarah looked back down at her arms and yawned, covering her face with her hands. After a while she sat up, folding her arms on the table. "So, how long have you been working at the museum?"

"Since late last year," Larry replied, taking the seat opposite her.

"Really?" Sarah's surprise wasn't anything unexpected. Everyone was always surprised when Larry told them that he finally managed to hold a job for longer than a couple of months. At least she didn't seem to doubt the stability of his current job. She grinned, rubbing the back of her neck. "That's great."

"Thanks," Larry nodded thankfully and mirrored the way Sarah was sitting, only he shifted after a while and rubbed his hands together.

Silence fell over them while Sarah seemed to focus on a particularly deep scratch on the table, tracing it with her fingers.

"You don't have to come, you know," Larry said after a while, feeling awkward with nobody saying a word. Sarah's eyes flickered to meet his but soon dropped back to the table. "I'm sure you can use the time to catch up on some sleep."

Before Sarah could reply that it was alright and she didn't mind accompanying them at all, Nicky strode into the room.

"It's cool, I'll pack a blanket just in case," he said, announcing his presence. He smiled at Sarah when she looked up, playing with a game console controller in his hands. "Dad's office has a real comfy chair, I slept in it once or twice." He walked around the table and dumped his backpack on the kitchen table.

Another thing Sarah and Nick Daley shared: both seemed to have impeccable timing.

Sarah raised an eyebrow at the _five _games he had packed, the ends of the cases sticking out of his bag. "Sure you've got enough there?"

Instead of answering, Nicky gave her a secretive smile.

* * *

><p>"<em>So how was the flight?"<em>

"_Long_," Sarah whined into the phone, her words distorted by the large slice of pizza in her mouth. Larry chuckled and shook his head, calling out in protest when Nicky stole a slice of pizza from his plate because it was bigger than the ones he had in front of him. Nicky avoided his grasp by jumping down from his seat and running to hide behind his cousin. "I think taking off and landing is the worst part. When I'm up in the air at least I can try and block out of the fact that one wrong switch on behalf of the pilot could send the entire plane plummeting to the ground."

"_Always the optimist," _her mother drawled on the other end of the line.

"I'm not sure that's how a plane works," Nick said, standing by the ear uncovered by Sarah's mobile. Sarah threw him an annoyed look but he merely shrugged, taking another bite of his food, talking with his mouth full. "I mean, it must be at least three switches. Or five. Or seven. Maybe a couple of buttons too."

"Stop trying to scare Sarah," Larry scolded him.

"I'm not scaring her," the boy protested, not even having the decency to look even the slightest bit sorry when Sarah met his eyes and glared lightly before returning to her phone.

"_So how's Larry's place? I heard from Erica he finally found a stable job. Is it working out or am I gonna have to worry about you ending up on the street because he'll get evicted?"_

Sarah threw her uncle a look, glad that he was obliviously sipping from his glass of water. "It's all good, trust me. You guys should stop doubting him."

"_Whatever you say sweetheart."_

Sarah rolled her eyes and before her mother could ask another question, held the phone out to Nicky who was still leaning on the back of her chair, licking his greasy fingers. "Hey, wanna talk to my mum?"

Nick nodded enthusiastically wiping his hand on his jeans and taking the phone from Sarah's hand and pressing it against his own ear. "Hi, aunt Lucy!"

"_Good evening, Nick. How have you been?"_

"I'm doing great," Nicky grinned. "Oh and my mother wanted me to thank you for the chocolates. We loved them."

"_You're welcome..."_

Sarah didn't pay attention to her mother's replies, digging into her own food. She didn't expect for the pizza to be this good, but then again, she would probably eat anything if given the chance.

Nicky laughed suddenly, making the other two people look up at him curiously. "That's alright, aunt Lucy, I will take very good care of Sarah, I promise." His cousin gave him a pointed look, unamused, which Nick ignored. "Okay, goodnight aunt Lucy."

Sarah thought he was about to hang up but Nicky grabbed another slice of pizza and thrust the phone in front of Larry's face, shaking it when the man simply looked at it. With one semi-annoyed look at his son, Larry picked the phone up and began to talk to Sarah's mother, throwing the girl a short glance before walking out of the room to continue the conversation.

"Huh," Sarah remarked, watching him leave and shut the door to his bedroom. "Wonder what that's about."

Nick shrugged, finishing off his drink before slamming it on the table and grinning up at his cousin. "Can I see the drawings you did before we go?"

Realising that Larry might be on the phone for a while, Sarah nodded and her and Nick raced across the room to her suitcase.

* * *

><p>By the time Larry pulled up outside the museum, Nicky was still examining the drawings and sketches Sarah had drawn based on his stories. Sarah looked on with a smile, pleased that he seemed to like most of them, pointing out little things here and there. He loved correcting her too with most strangely precise details, like saying that Sacagawea's hair is supposed to be longer and that Theodore Roosevelt's glasses were drawn wrong, to name only a few.<p>

Nicky paused at the quick sketch of Ahkmenrah, his jaw dropping open. "Dad, look!" he exclaimed, nearly standing up in his seat. "It's Ahkmenrah, it really looks like him doesn't it?"

He held it up to Larry who was patting down his pockets to check that he took everything. Running a hand through his hair he turned around in his seat – Sarah and Nick had both taken the back seat so they could look at the drawings – and hesitated, doing a double take.

Nicky wasn't kidding. He had held up several other drawings to Larry while he was driving – the night guard having to look at them carefully through the rear-view window – and he couldn't deny that many were wonderful. Sarah really was gifted.

Of course, while the main concepts were right, many of the exhibits in her drawings didn't quite look like themselves. But that was only to be expected because, after all, she was only working from Nick's vague descriptions and what she could make up, perhaps making use of a few reference images she could find on the web.

There was something different about the sketch of Ahkmenrah, however. It was uncannily accurate, down to the beads in his clothes. He glanced at Sarah who simply shrugged, most likely uncomfortable with the attention. Nicky was the only one she usually felt comfortable sharing her drawings with but it still must have been strange, especially visible in the way she had to keep telling Nicky to be careful not to smudge the drawings she had done in charcoal – though she did mask it as a concern for his fingers getting dirty.

"There's one thing wrong," Nicky said thoughtfully, turning the drawing to face him again.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"His nose," the boy said simply, pointing it out. "You got his nose wrong."

Sarah frowned and scratched the back of her head, not really seeing anything wrong with the nose – what kind of ten year old picks up on such a detail anyway – and moved in closer to examine her drawing. Nicky glanced up at his father and two grinned at each other.

"Right," Larry clapped and rubbed his hands together. "Let's go, shall we?" Sarah nodded and after she gathered her sketchbook and safely tucked in any loose sheets, making sure she still had the box of pencils in her jeans pocket, the trio left the car.

Nick dragged Sarah to the museum so quickly, she nearly tripped over the stairs three times, barely getting a good look at the American Museum of Natural History from the outside.

Soon they were inside the museum and Sarah grinned the moment they stepped through the revolving doors, the giant skeleton of the dinosaur being the first thing she saw. For a small moment, she was a little kid again, visiting the museum for the first time.

Ah. The British Museum, that's the one!

The thought made Sarah grin, infecting both the man and the boy on either side of her with it when she turned to each of them. She slowly turned in a circle, complying as little as she could as Larry began to lead her to the main desk.

The spell was broken when a short, stocky man began to walk towards them. No, wait... Not towards them. _Past _them. Speaking hurriedly into his phone without as much as a single glance in their direction.

"Hi, Dr. McPhee," Larry greeted the man in the pale, rather ill-fitting if Sarah was one to say, suit. He was completely ignored, apart from one annoyed look sent his way. "That's my boss," he said to Sarah at her questioning look.

"Seems like a nice guy," the girl nodded.

Larry chuckled at the visible sarcasm in her voice. They watched Dr. McPhee leave the museum. "Yeah... He's my hero." Now it was Sarah's turn to laugh.

"May I have your attention please?" Nicky's voice boomed over the intercom. Sarah and Larry turned around abruptly to see him back at the reception desk, standing on top with his bag carelessly thrown to the side. "I would like to welcome you," he pointed an index finger at his cousin, "to the American Museum of Natural History where many magical mysteries take place at night."

Sarah laughed, shaking her head. "Nicky, get down from there."

"Come on, little guy, Sarah's right, you shouldn't be up there." Larry moved to get to Nicky but the boy evaded the capture, running around the circular desk.

"Please, dad, every detail has to go perfect," he whined through a few short bursts of laugher when his dad did finally catch up with him and grabbed him from the desk, carrying him back to Sarah like a loaf of bread under his arm.

Sarah was still laughing when Nick was standing upright next to her again, Larry checking his watch.

He tapped it twice then looked around before turning to the other two. "Right, it's officially five minutes past closing time and Dr. McPhee is usually the last guy to leave. So it can begin."

Nick cheered and he and his father high-fived while Sarah looked between the two of them curiously.

"What can begin?" she asked.

Larry and Nick exchanged another look and the latter sighed. "If we told you, you won't believe us. So we're just gonna show you."

"Uh, okay..." Sarah blinked, slowly following after them as they began to walk deeper into the museum, towards one of the galleries. "Show me what?" The two didn't even turn to her, their pace picking up speed. Sarah didn't miss that, quickening her own pace to the point she was almost jogging.

Larry and Nick disappeared around the corner and Sarah ran after them, half-annoyed, half-curious as to what they had in store for her. They certainly were acting odd.

She turned the corner – her eyes lingering on a modestly proud man on horseback and her brain trying to stir any memories of American history – and then froze, her legs taking her no further.

They were gone. Nick and Larry were nowhere in sight. Pulling her eyebrows together, Sarah looked behind her at the different corridor she could have taken, and then glanced back the way she came from atrium but they weren't there either.

"Larry? Nicky?" she called, only receiving a faint return of her echo. She let out a huff and rolled her eyes. "Seriously?"

Again, she was met with little more than silence. She threw her arms out, nearly dropping her sketchbook in the process. "I thought I was going to be given a tour." Looking around her she shook her head in defeat, not sure what on earth Nicky and Larry were playing at. "Well, there's no use just standing in one place, I guess."

So forward she went, no later than at the end of the corridor running into a giant poster pointing towards the staircase, reading, '_COME AND GAZE UPON THE MUMMY OF THE YOUNG EGYPTIAN KING.'_

Something about the poster made her pause and hesitate. Biting her bottom lip between her teeth, she turned on her heels and headed for the direction the arrow on the poster was pointing to before she could change her mind, but not without continuing to occasionally yell for Larry and Nick.

"You know I've never liked hide and seek!"

It was as if the two had disappeared into thin air.

Only they hadn't. Nicky and Larry followed closely behind, hidden expertly because after all, they knew the museum like the back of their hands by now. Larry continuously checked his watch, knowing that the exhibits could come to life at any given moment now. It was summer now and the nights were shorter, it was a little harder to predict the exact time everyone would wake up.

Nicky giggled and Larry shushed him, which only made the boy giggle harder.

They peaked over the corner to see Sarah turning one herself, seemingly heading towards the Egyptian exhibit. This made Larry frown, scratching his forehead.

"I don't think it's the best idea that she goes there first," Larry whispered to his son as they began to shuffle down the corridor to stay close to Sarah. They wanted to make sure she was safe, especially since the welcome Larry received was less than warm from a few particular parties.

"Relax, if the Jackals wake up, Ahkmenrah will calm them down," Nicky reasoned.

"And if he doesn't?" Larry asked, anxiety getting the best of him.

Nick shrugged, crouching down when they reached the corner Sarah had turned most recently and sticking his head out to get a peek. "Then let's hope Sarah's a fast runner."

Larry threw his son a wary glance, knowing for a fact that Sarah _wasn't_. But he didn't voice it, not knowing how close they were to Sarah and Nicky seemed to have the eyes of the pair. When the young boy hummed to himself and then frowned, Larry's curiosity got the better of him and leaning over Nick, he also peeked around the corner.

"What is she doing?" he asked, not actually seeing Sarah but just her leg peaking out from the entrance to Ahkmenrah's tomb.

"Well she found the temple but she's not really going inside it," Nicky said carefully. "She just sat down in the doorway and started to draw one of Ahkmenrah's Jackals."

Larry sighed and turning back to face the front slid down against the wall and sat down next to Nicky, muffling a yawn. "This might take a while."

A crash echoed from downstairs in the atrium and Larry and Nick's head snapped towards the noise.

Sarah was utterly unaware of the two people spying on her, not even hearing the sound due to humming a song under her own breath, lost in the drawing in front of her, lowering her pencil only to smudge it with a finger whenever she wanted to create a shadow.

She was heading towards the mummy at first, the gold sarcophagus capturing her eye – she reasoned to herself that she only wanted to draw it because she's always enjoyed scribbling finely detailed work – but the jackals standing by the entrance distracted her. Something about their overpowering presence, staring down at her as if they could actually see her, made her completely forget there was a mummy at the far end of the tomb and sit down, already opening her sketchbook and flicking to a clean page.

Brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face when it fell in front of her eyes, Sarah looked up at the Egyptian jackal statue before her, having finished with the head and the shoulders and taking high care to draw its spear in a straight line.

Noting down the strange head of the weapon, she briefly looked back up again to make sure she had the size right, but when she looked back down at the sketchbook she froze.

Her hand still hovering over the paper, Sarah very slowly looked up again, her eyes widening in horror at the spear pointed at her, the giant tomb guardian bent over the girl's much smaller form, _growling._

Sarah screamed and jumped to her feet, stumbling back. She turned around and screamed yet again when she caught sight of the second jackal, barely managing to jump out of the way to avoid being pierced like a piece of meat to be fried over a fire, only a second later screaming again as she avoided the first jackal's attacks.

She should have clutched her sketchbook to her chest and run out of the temple towards Larry and Nicky for help. But she didn't. Oh, no. Sarah, being Sarah Daley, screamed again and dropping everything – nearly falling over on her behind in the process – ran deeper into the temple.

She ducked a swipe at her head – well, she didn't really know if it was aimed at her head but she wasn't about to turn around and find out – and jumped over the mummy's sarcophagus, holding a hand to her chest to help calm her pounding heart.

"What the actual hell?" she couldn't help but hiss under her breath. The jackals were _alive. _How was that even possible?!

A spear was thrust into the ground no more than a few feet to her left and Sarah screamed, jumping out of the way and running into a pair of giant, rock-hard feet. She didn't even look up to confirm that she had ran into the other jackal, simply throwing her hands over her head, completely cornered.

But the spear didn't come anywhere near her. Sarah frowned when a muffled voice called out in a language she didn't recognise. She looked up to see that the jackals had paused. For a few, painfully long moments they stood frozen in place before straightening and moving back to the entrance, Sarah watching them with wide eyes, her pulse too fast for her to be relieved that the statues were not attempting to kill her anymore.

This would have been a good time to call for Larry, and she almost did, but her voice died in her throat again when the sarcophagus she had been resting against moved.

No, it more than moved. She could very clearly hear that the sarcophagus opened and _something _sat up. She was too scared to turn around. Heck, she was too scared to breathe.

_'Holy shit,'_ her mind screamed at her. _'The mummy is alive. The bloody mummy is alive!'_

The same voice that had made the jackal's go away spoke again, only this time in English, in an accent she would have attempted to trace the origins off if her eardrums weren't pounding with the sound of her own heartbeat.

"I apologise for their behaviour, you must understand they are only fulfilling their duty that is to protect me."

A hand landed on Sarah's shoulder and she screamed, stumbling forward and running away to hide behind one of the thick pillars.

Ahkmenrah blinked as the figure of the young woman bolted out of sight, surprised. When he could hear her rushed breathing, the young Egyptian king smiled to himself and rose from the sarcophagus. "Are you a new employee?" he enquired, walking around the other side of the pillar the girl was hiding behind. Larry hadn't mentioned that another night guard would be joining him but Ahkmenrah couldn't be sure as the girl had fled too fast for him to make out her clothes. He could only be sure that she wasn't an intruder as he had faith in Larry to protect the museum.

He was surprised, yet again, when the girl screamed and stumbled away, running the opposite way. Of course, all Ahkmenrah had to do was turn around and she ran straight into him, turning the both of them around before she stumbled over her own feet and fell. He took a step forward, wanting to see the girl's face clearly for the pillar was throwing a shadow over her face, but she screeched, "stay away."

"It's alright," Ahkmenrah said slowly, although he didn't stop advancing forward. He held his hands up, palms facing forward. "You don't have to be afraid. I am not going to... hurt you..."

His voice faded as his eyes widened, the girl having crawled into the light, her face white with horror. During his short pause she had managed to get up on her feet and put a little more distance between them, taking two steps back for every step the strange man took towards her.

He certainly didn't look like a mummy – not that she spent too long turning that fact over in her head. She was half convinced she was either dreaming or hallucinating. Either that, or Larry and Nicky had one very sick sense of humour.

The look of confusion on the man's face was wiped clean in an instant that she ran a hand over her face, brushing her hair behind her ear.

Ahkmenrah grinned, unable to believe his eyes. "Semet," he breathed the name, closing the distance faster than the girl could say, "Who?"

He gripped her by her upper arms, his eyes shining, pressing his forehead against hers. Sarah struggled in his grip, fear washing over her. "Let go off me!" Her throat ran dry when the man didn't seem to hear her, his smile only widening. The gold of his clothes blinded her and yet as she panicked, she could have sworn he looked awfully familiar.

Ahkmenrah didn't even register her words, joy and relief overwhelming his senses.

"_I can barely believe my own eyes," _he spoke in his mother tongue, his eyes boring into hers. _"But you are here, my love. I knew the gods could not be so cruel as to take you away from me before your time is due." _Despite the woman's protests he raised one hand to cup her cheek, brushing his thumb over her cheekbone.

Sarah froze, the stranger's touch immobilising. She felt like she had been burnt. She took in a deep breath and gathered her strength, fully intent on shoving her captor away like she had been taught – well, witnessed on television to be more precise.

Before she could do that, all feeling left her arms. He had closed what little distance was between them and kissed her.

A _huge _mistake. Sarah screamed inwardly and gathering all her strength, shoved him away so hard that the man stumbled back, gasping in surprise.

"Semet?" Ahkmenrah asked, shocked, only then realising that she did not seem to return his affections. If anything she looked livid, gritting her jaw and rapidly taking in short, angry breaths. He blinked, tilting his head to the side. "_It is me, Ahkmenrah, do you not remember–"_

Ahkmenrah's question was cut off by Sarah's fist.


	3. A Face Without a Soul

**Chapter Three: A Face Without a Soul**

"Stay away from me!" Sarah roared, pointing the spear – the first weapon she laid her eyes on, even if now she doubted its usefulness as it mostly likely would have been too small even for Nicky – at the man she now recognised as the mummy of Ahkmenrah.

Well, a mummy that had come back to life.

He stepped forward, his expression contorted in pain – not that she cared much at the moment. The man assaulted her. He winced when Sarah stumbled back. "I'm sorry," he said for the hundredth time. "I do not know what came over me. I mistook you for someone else."

"Ha," Sarah barked, still backing away. She didn't seem register the look on Ahkmenrah's face when she nearly took one step too many and tumbled down the stairs. "Yeah right."

Ahkmenrah frowned, wincing again at the bite in her tone and the glare in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't–"

"You keep saying that but you don't realise that 'sorry' doesn't cut it," Sarah interrupted with another shout, moving to the side when Ahkmenrah took another step towards her. She levelled the spear at his chest, convinced that he wanted to disarm her from the weapon. "You can't just walk around doing that to people, Pharaoh or not!"

"I did not mean to cause you harm," Ahkmenrah tried again, gulping when he nearly ran into the spear which was now so close he could feel it against his skin when he spoke. He eyed it warily before forcing himself to focus on the girl's face, hoping that he could communicate his sincerity through his eyes. It didn't work, as it only served to make him more distressed when even the anger in her eyes didn't make her look any less than who he initially thought she was. "I thought you were Semet."

"Sure," Sarah scoffed. "because me trying to get away wasn't enough of an indication. Pervert."

"_Please, just hear me out,"_ Ahkmenrah spoke in Egyptian, too frustrated to realise he had abandoned English. Why wasn't this girl listening? _"If only you gave me a chance to explain-"_

Sarah jumped back when he advanced, yelping out in surprise. "Stay away! Back... Back off!" He voice wavered when she finally noticed the desperate and borderline-frightened look on the man's face. Luckily her spear didn't waver so she swallowed and gritted her jaw, continuing to point it at him. "Stay... stay away."

This was how Larry found them when he stumbled into the scene, the two standing just outside Ahkmenrah's tomb, breathing heavily and staring at each other with equal fear.

He threw his arms out, not even able to formulate a guess at what could have happened. He didn't know what he expected to find when he heard raised voices – the fact that Ahkmenrah was yelling being the biggest surprise of all – but it wasn't this.

"What the hell is going?" he demanded, coming to a stand next to them.

Ahkmenrah spoke first since Sarah didn't even turn to acknowledge her uncle, too wary to move her eyes from the man opposite her. "It's all a misunderstanding," he said before blinking and as a afterthought adding, "Please believe me."

Larry looked surprised at the look of fear in the king's eyes, turning to Sarah, looking even more surprised at the weapon in her hands. "Sarah, what happened?"

"He kissed me!" the girl yelled, shaking the spear in Ahkmenrah's face and making him take a few steps back in caution, raising his hands again.

Larry's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. "What?"

"He kissed me," Sarah repeated, at the same time that Ahkmenrah said, "I thought she was someone else." The girl glared at him, her eyes narrowed into slits.

Larry merely blinked in confusion before shaking his head. Ahkmenrah kissed Sarah? Why on earth would he go do that for? Who did he think she was? Where... He looked around in confusion before turning back to Sarah and Ahkmenrah, the two back at staring at each other again.

Where did Sarah get the spear?

"Give it here," he said, suddenly wrenching it out of Sarah's hands. Sarah stumbled forward, Ahkmenrah's arms instinctively shooting up to catch her. The girl managed to recover her balance however, glaring at the Pharaoh and folding her arms over her chest.

Ahkmenrah licked his lips, swallowing thickly. "Semet–"

Sarah cut him off so loudly, her voice echoed around them and made Larry jump. "I don't know who that is!"

Hurt flickered in Ahkmenrah's eyes and he looked down, while Larry stared at Sarah in shock, surprised at the display of raw emotions radiating from the usually calm and self-controlled girl. He looked between her and Ahkmenrah, trying to get his head around what they were saying.

"Ahkmenrah," he started carefully, waiting patiently for the young Pharaoh to look up. Ahkmenrah might not have been able to take his eyes off Sarah, but now it felt like it pained him to even look in her direction.

He met the older man's eyes briefly before casting his eyes downwards again. "It was a misunderstanding," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. He finally managed to look at Sarah, but it was a strange, glassy expression that made Sarah's anger waver. As if he looked straight through her. "I am sorry."

With that, he turned on his heels and began to walk back towards his tomb. Larry blinked, hurrying after him and thrusting the spear back in Sarah's hands who gripped it like a shield, half raising it against the retreating Pharaoh.

"Hey, where are you going?" Larry asked, jogging to catch up with him. He didn't as much as turn his head, his hands clenched into fists. "Ahkmenrah, wait up!"

"I would very much like to be alone!" the Pharaoh yelled over his shoulder – surprising Larry again with his raised voice – and the moment he stepped past the Jackals, he ordered something in Egyptian, causing his guards to step forward and block the entrance.

Sarah watched Ahkmenrah disappear back into his tomb with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. The expression of his face had stirred something that made her frown. Guilt, maybe? No, it couldn't be. She didn't regret being angry.

But maybe, just _maybe _the punch in the face and threatening him with the spear might have been a little bit too much.

Larry blinked, nodding. "Okay..." he said slowly, turning back to Sarah and rolling his eyes when he saw his niece holding the spear. He forced it out of her grip again, shaking his head. "Where did you get this?"

"'Where did I get this?'" Sarah asked, a little calmer but no less outraged. "I was just assaulted by a three thousand year old mummy, that's all you care about?" When Larry's eyebrows rose, Sarah glared at him for a few moments before giving up with a sigh, offering him an apologetic look. "Alright, fine, massive exaggeration." She ran a hand through her hair, looking around, noticing that her cousin was absent. "Where's Nicky?"

"Oh, he got bored waiting for you to do something interesting, he's probably in the atrium, riding on top of Rexy."

"Right," Sarah nodded, her lips pressed together into a thin line. "And Rexy, he is, uh..." She licked her lips, racking her brain through what she could remember of Nick's stories. "Rexy is the giant Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Larry nodded, stuffing his hands in his trousers pockets. A crash sounded near by, followed by the hollering of a monkey. Larry turned to it in concern while Sarah didn't even glance it, sparing a glance at the jackals before she caught herself staring. Larry turned back to his niece and after scanning her from head to toe, winced. "I'm sorry, Sarah. It wasn't the best idea to just dump all this on you."

"Well, I think any concept of the fact that the museum comes to life at night might be a shock," Sarah said, mustering a faint smile. It dropped a moment later however, when her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh god, Nicky's stories were true. It's all true."

Larry put a hand on Sarah's shoulder, trying to comfort his niece. It worked, even if only slightly. Sarah ran her hands over her face before putting her hands on her hips, trying to control her breathing.

Her uncle looked at her warily, bending over slightly until they were at the same eye-level. "Hey, are you alright?" he asked, searching her face.

"Yes, I'm fine," Sarah nodded, giving him a small but honest smile. "Really, I overreacted, I'm sorry. I was just caught off-guard, that's all."

"Look, Ahkmenrah doesn't really usually–"

"Walk up to a stranger and kiss them?" Sarah finished for him, a small smile pulling at one corner of her lips.

"No," Larry hesitated before chuckling. "Well, that too." When Sarah looked down, his expression turned serious. "I'm sure he has a good explanation and he meant you no harm – I can go kick his ass if you'd like."

He was only joking of course, as serious as he was about protecting his niece. Still, it gained the desired response when Sarah chuckled, shaking her head softly.

"No," she said thoughtfully, looking down at the hand she had punched the Pharaoh with and flexing her fingers. "It's fine. I think I should probably try to apologise, you know, for hitting him and all."

Larry did a double take while Sarah clenched and unclenched her fist, not having realised until then how much her hand actually hurt. "You... you slapped Ahkmenrah?"

"Huh?" Sarah looked up and registering his words, shook her head. "Oh, no, I uh... I punched him." She formed a fist with her good hand and pressed it against her cheek, imitating the action.

Larry could only stare, caught between shock and laughter. "Oh."

Another crash sounded, this time closer. Larry jumped to action, running towards the source of the noise and, judging by the expression on his face, finding it the moment he turned the corner. He growled, disappearing out of sight, his voice carrying.

"Hey, how many times do I have to tell you, that is not for eating, okay? Yes, I know it looks delicious – stop biting it!"

Sarah listened for Larry's voice to grow quieter and shook her head, realising she was left alone. Taking in a deep breath, she turned towards Ahkmenrah's tomb, deciding that if she said she was going to apologise then she should probably get it over and done with. She _did _feel guilty for hitting him, even if it seemed like a good idea at a time.

And it's not like it didn't work. Sure, she had to run for her life and grab a spear from somewhere but that didn't mean that the action didn't serve its purpose.

Clearing her throat, Sarah began to walk towards the entrance slowly, taking her time. She didn't even know what to say, let alone know that the Pharaoh would not just order his guards to kill her.

Okay, maybe she was allowing her imagination run wild. She couldn't help it. She could still feel the ghost of the kiss – if one could even call that a kiss – against her lips and she had to resist the urge to touch her lips. She mentally face-palmed, shaking her head.

She stood by what she said. Just because Ahkmenrah had mistaken her for Semet – was that name he called her by? In all honesty she wasn't really listening – it didn't mean he could just stroll up and kiss her. No one kissed Sarah against her will. She was lucky not to have any unfortunate experiences on the boyfriend department – not that she had many boyfriends in the past to begin with – but she had seen enough of her friends get hurt to avoid allowing herself to be taken advantage of.

Sarah stopped right in front of the entrance and gulped as she looked up at the jackals, her mind running a blank. She could have sworn they were glaring at her.

"Hey, uh," she began, aware that even to her, her voice sounded weak. "Can I get through?" The Jackals didn't move to show that they heard her. Sarah frowned. "Look, I can just wait here until sunrise when you will go back to being motionless statues when you will not be able to stop me." Nothing, again. Sarah was about to lose patience – feeling continuously embarrassed by the entire process – when an Egyptian command came from within the tomb.

A tense moment passed before the jackals listened to their king's order and stepped back, allowing Sarah to go inside. She pointedly avoided looking at them but when she heard one of them shift, she hurried her pace, folding her arms over her chest.

She found Ahkmenrah sitting on the edge of his sarcophagus, a familiar object in his hands. The Pharaoh was flicking through her sketchbook, scanning each page carefully with his intense gaze, at times even allowing a weak smile graze his lips. Despite telling Larry that he wanted to be left alone with his thoughts, Ahkmenrah found that his thoughts wandered to subjects too painful for him to remember thus when he found the sketchbook the girl had dropped, he didn't hesitate to indulge his curiosity if only to distract himself.

He looked up when Sarah approached him, anything but jumping to his feet and closing the sketchbook in an instant, looking down at the ground like a child caught doing something he shouldn't.

Sarah stopped in front of him, though far away enough to be able to fit the Pharaoh's sarcophagus between them. "Hi."

Ahkmenrah looked up tentatively, surprised at the lack of anger in her voice. She stood in a defensive position, her hands across her chest. A clearly protective stance, but her face seemed kind. Straightening his shoulders and holding the sketchbook behind his back, he risked a step forward, braving another when Sarah didn't react negatively.

The girl only seemed embarrassed – something that surprised him greatly though he did not voice the observation – but when Ahkmenrah took a third step towards her, something snapped in her and she took one back, forcing the Pharaoh to stay where he was, despite the inner earning to hold her in his arms again. Instead, he had to be content with gripping the sketchbook tighter one last time before he extended it to the girl in front of him. "You left this behind."

Sarah anything but leaped forward to take it from him, mentally kicking herself for having completely forgotten about her work. She offered the Pharaoh a genuine smile, one he hurried to return even though she couldn't see it as she looked away abruptly. Ahkmenrah settled on swallowing a lump in his throat and raising his head slightly.

"Your drawings are rather exceptional," he tried again, smiling softly when Sarah's eyes flickered to meet his.

She nodded, intent on replying with an automatic 'thank you', but the memory of nearly being stabbed to death by the jackals – currently mostly likely glaring at the back of her skull – invaded her mind and she remained silent, not trusting her voice not to break.

"I apologise for my actions earlier. It was not my intention to offend you."

He almost let out a sigh of relief when Sarah actually seemed to register his apology this time. "It's alright," she said, looking down at her own feet. "Really, it's fine. I actually wanted to apologise too."

"For what?"

"For, you know, punching you."

The sincerity in her words made Ahkmenrah smile though he remained silent until she looked up. "Your reaction was understandable."

"Yes it was," Sarah agreed with a bitter nod. Ahkmenrah's smile dropped in an instant, making the girl rub the back of her head and look away to the side. "But it wasn't necessary."

When she met his eyes, there was something different in her gaze. Not anger, but curiosity. Ahkmenrah couldn't look away.

They hadn't realised they were both staring until Nick appeared in the doorway, calling both of their names to make them snap out of it. Completely unaware of what had taken place, the boy ran up to them with a grin.

"There you are!" he said, breathing deeply as if he had been running around the museum in circles. "I was looking for you both but you've already met each other!"

"Sort of...?" Sarah mumbled, chancing a glance at Ahkmenrah. The pharaoh was smiling at her cousin pleasantly, as if greeting an old friend. The girl pouted.

Nick had heard her, not picking up on the tone of her statement. "That's alright, I can do the proper introductions," he smiled, taking a step back and holding his chin high in the air, beaming at them both. "Ahkmenrah, this is my cousin Sarah, I think I've mentioned her to you once or twice. Sarah, this is Ahkmenrah, Fourth King of the Fourth King."

Sarah grinned at her cousin before realising that he was glancing between her and Ahkmenrah in expectation. Hesitantly she looked back at Ahkmenrah to find him smiling pleasantly and inclining his head. She knew she should have said something to be polite but she couldn't. She only managed a nod, the Pharaoh's unblinking gaze unnerving her to the point where she had to look away, unconsciously rubbing one of her arms where Ahkmenrah had gripped her in an iron hold.

Nick didn't notice the tension, turning to Ahkmenrah. "They're starting the soccer game in about ten minutes. You're still playing, right?"

"Football," Sarah corrected her cousin before Ahkmenrah could reply, making him turn to her in surprise.

"Soccer," Nick stood his ground, pulling his eyebrows together.

"Football," Sarah repeated.

"Soccer!"

"Football!"

Ahkmenrah watched with an amused smile as this continued for a while, realising that there was no serious ground for the argument, both of the Daleys simply refusing to back down. He laughed, causing both of the people to turn to him.

Nick grinned, remembering his previous question. "So, are you coming?"

"Of course," the Pharaoh nodded, returning Nick's smile full intensity when Nick cheered and began to lead the way.

The boy turned over his shoulder at Sarah. "Come on, Sarah, you still need to meet the others!"

Sarah seemed hesitant but Nicky didn't give her much choice in a matter, corners of his eyes crinkling as he smiled. The girl rolled her eyes as she hurried to catch up with them, half-convinced that Nicky knew that he could practically get her to do anything and that he took full advantage of that fact.

The trio left the tomb, Nick nearly skipping in the middle, walking in zigzags and occasionally bumping into both Ahkmenrah and Sarah. The Pharaoh would smile at the boy, while Sarah would through him a suspicious glance, fixing her sketchbook once she started to notice that a couple of pages were askew. She checked each page, ensuring that there were no major tears or damages. She half expected for one of the jackal statues to run its spear through it. When they neared the atrium she moved to close her sketchbook, satisfied with it's condition, but a single page curled, preventing it from closing. She quickly corrected it but instead of closing the sketchbook shut, she raked her eyes over her sketch of Ahkmunrah and then discreetly glanced at the Pharaoh himself through the corner of her eyes.

When his own eyes flickered to the side to meet hers she abruptly faced the front again, shutting her sketchbook and clutching it to her chest like a shield.

"Are you alright?" Ahkmenrah inquired , concerned at the sudden frown that pulled at Sarah's lips. He hoped it wasn't something he had done, as since they left his tomb he had taken great care to stay at a distance, as if the spear was still pointed at his chest.

"It's nothing," Sarah said stiffly, picking up her pace once she spotted Larry talking – or yelling, he seemed to be using a lot of hand gestures – to a small monkey who was waving around a bundle of keys. Ahkmenrah glanced down at Nick but the boy merely shrugged for lack of an answer.

Little did Nicky know that he was right. Sarah _did _get Ahkmenrah's nose wrong.

* * *

><p><span>Author's note<span>: Okay, so I'm not sure how you readers will react to these last two chapters (kinda scared since I'm myself not too confident with how they turned out) but I guess I'll see from reviews. Feel free to comment (or criticise of course, that is always welcome) on anything, I'd love to know what you all thought.  
>PS: Just as a side note, I will have very little time to update over the next few weeks, but if there are no updates don't worry, I am not abandoning this story it's just that exams are coming up so I'll be super busy trying not to fail. At the very least it will give me some time to come up with plot directions.<p> 


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